


Mom's Birthday Trip

by Kennex



Category: Almost Human
Genre: Gen, Humor, What happened in Mexico
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-18
Updated: 2014-02-18
Packaged: 2018-01-12 23:58:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1205287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kennex/pseuds/Kennex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happened to Paul in Mexico</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mom's Birthday Trip

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a post on the Almost Human Fans Tumblr looking forward to a thousand fics about Paul and his mom and decided to give it a whirl. Also, please let me know if my Spanish is wrong and I'll fix it.

Paul smiled as unlocked the door. He couldn’t wait to tell his mom his surprise.

“Hey, Ma!” He called as he walked through the door.

“Ricky! What are you doing here?” His mom walked out of her office and hugged him.

“I have a surprise for you. Wanna go see Xochicalco?” Paul’s smile grew brighter.

His mother squinted at him with suspicion. “Yes.”

“In real life?”

“I- Yes, but-”

“Right now?”

“Mijo, you know it’s in Mexico. They haven’t moved it.”

“Then we better get started.” Paul headed into his mother’s bedroom. “I’ll help you pack.”

“Are you serious?”

Paul turned around. “Yes. My bags are in the car, the plane to Cuernavaca takes off in five hours, I’ve booked a hotel with a spa. We’ll be back late on Monday. Your passport still up to date?” Paul continued into her room. He pulled a small bag from the top of her closet and started looking for her hiking boots. Paul paused, his mom hadn’t made a sound. “Mom?”

“Found my passport!” She called from her office. “Oh, don’t take those, I need to get rid of them, I should have better ones from my trip to Muir Woods.” Then she reached up and hugged him around the neck. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

“Happy Birthday, Mamá.”

~~~

“Ricky, look, that’s the Palacio de Cortés. It’s over 500 years old. We should stop by and see the Diego Rivera murals.” She turned to Paul. “Do we have time for that?”

“We have time for whatever you want to do.”

“If we go see Xochicalco tomorrow, we could come back and see the museum this afternoon. Tomorrow we could hike up to El Tepozteco early and come back and wander the city in the afternoon. I wonder if they have a late mass at the Cathedral. We should find out. This is going to be so much fun!” His mom was almost bouncing in her seat with excitement. “It’s amazing how low the city is at the center. The outskirts had those high rises, but in here it’s so low, and there is so much history.” His mother grew silent as they passed gardens and streets. “The Shah of Iran had a house here.”   
“Who?”

“The Shah, Mohammed Reza Palevi. He was king of Iran. He was overthrown almost 80 years ago. He lived here for a while after he left Iran.”

“Ah. Hey, why don’t we go to the museum this afternoon, after we check in?” Paul suggested.

“Sounds like a plan.” His mother agreed.

~~~

“Ma.”

“Ricky, look at this rosary.”

“Mamá”

“It was brought over with Franciscan’s in 1529.”

“Mom, we have to go. They’re closing.”

His mother looked up from the case she had been studying. “Oh. Sorry. Old habits die hard.”

“Writing a lesson plan about the Spanish conquistadors?”

“There is a new virtual museum tour for school groups. It’s not as good as the real thing, but knowing that these objects exist, and to see them close up, is still a thrill.” She sighed. “But the system is still expensive. Getting the funding is not easy.”

“Hey!” Paul put his arm around his mom. “Happy thoughts only. This is your birthday trip. And you’ll find a way.”

A man walked in the room. Paul did a double take.

“Dorian?”

“Lo siento. El museo está cerrando.” Not Dorian. A DRN Museum guard.

“Thanks. We’re heading out now.” Paul relaxed a bit.

“You’re welcome. I hope you enjoyed yourselves.” The DRN switched to English, which unsettled Paul again. The difference between this DRN and Dorian were so slight. Only the uniform and the green processing lights gave away the difference.

“We did! Do you know if you are part of the Virtual Museums network?” His mom asked.

“I believe we are. Would you like me to send you the information?” The DRN and his mom started to walk out together.

“That would be great!” The DRN got Paul thinking about work. Nope. Not this weekend. This trip was about Mom. Paul mentally shook himself. It was just so weird.

~~~

Late Saturday, Paul was relaxing by the pool. Based on how he felt, Paul would swear he and his mother had walked every square inch of Morelos.

“Tsk, tsk. I though police were supposed to be more fit than that. Can’t even keep up with your old ma.” Paul’s mother chuckled as she claimed a recliner beside her son.

“Yeah, I’m signing you up to be a new recruit. With you on the force, the gangs would be begging to go to the cubes in a month.”

“Pft, week. Tops.” His mom closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm sun on her skin.

Paul’s phone buzzed with a text from Rudy. _How’s the surgery? I hope you are feeling better_. “What the hell?” Paul muttered to himself. _Surgery?_ He sent back. _Detective Kennex said you were out with an infection that required surgery._ came the response.

“That fucking-” Paul looked up to see if his mom had over heard him. _No. And inform Kennex I will kill him when I get back._

“‘Sup, Mijo?” his mom cracked an eye and looked at him.

“Nothing.” Paul settled back into his chair, determined not to think about Kennex. “Just an asshole at work.”

“Language, Ricky. What’s he doing?”

“It’s nothing, Ma. I’ll take care of it when I get back.”

“Ricky.” His mother sat up and looked at him. “You’ve never played well with others. If he's being an ass, let your captain take care of it. She’s a smart woman.” Paul’s mother sat back. “Unless it’s a matter of life and death, stop worrying about work. It’s my birthday.”

“Who’s been talking about almost nothing but work?”

“That’s different. It’s my birthday, I’ll do what I want.” Paul laughed and put his hands up in surrender.

~~~

Paul was in the bathroom shaving when his mother knocked on the door.

“Ricky, you need to see this.” Paul dropped the razor, his face only half shaved, and rushed out.

“What is it Ma? What’s wrong?”

“The city. The power went out.”

“Jesus, Ma. I thought you hurt yourself. The power goes out all the time. Nothing they can’t handle.”

“No, Sweetheart. Someone _turned_ all the power off, look.” She pointed toward a news broadcast showing a multitude of dark towers, with only the image of the Kasdan kid, captioned by “Justice for Aaron.”

“Be right back.” Paul muttered as his mother nodded. Five minutes later, with assurances from Maldanado that he did not have to hurry back from Mexico, Paul came back in the room and sat next to his mother.   
“Mom, never get a smart house.”

“When I was young, the term smart house meant that you could turn things on with your phone, not kill a kid.” She turned to look at Paul. “So what happened?”

“Hacktivists. It’s the anniversary of his death.”

“Oh.” His mother turned back to the screen. “I used to be on their side. When it was about protecting people from an overbearing government, or fighting for the rights of the voiceless. Helping people. But somewhere that got lost.” She sighed. “I’m getting old. I turn 60 this week. So much has changed. When I was born the internet, computers, none of that was as pervasive as it is. Now you’re partner is a computer. Sometimes I talk to one, and don’t even realize it.” She shook her head. “Mijo, the world had changed a lot.”

“It hasn’t changed that much. People still fall in love, we still celebrate birthdays, We still get married-”

“Still get divorced.” His mother interrupted. “You talk to your ex lately?”

Paul side eyed his mom. “You talk to Dad lately?”

“Man, I’m starving.” His mom popped up from the edge of the bed. “Let’s go eat!”

“Sounds good.” Paul turned off the tv. He would have time to worry about that tomorrow. Right now was about his mom and her birthday.

 


End file.
